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Process versus product
How do you get the balance right between serving your listeners and empowering the participants of your radio station?
Community radio stations are charged with a remit over and above simply creating output for broadcast. More than hospital and student stations, community radio stations are also about the people involved in making the broadcast (I say more here because, with the exception of a student station that was being used to assess students, only a community station whose output didn’t go beyond the studio could be classed as a valuable project).
The way you engage and empower the volunteers who work on your station is not simply a means to an end; but equally the output can not simply be a by-product of the station. The transmitter has to be a valuable tool to getting your community to participate, and if it isn’t then I would argue that you project has failed.
The problem is that whilst there is some excellent community radio available; there is also an awful lot where consideration of what the listener wants seems to be low on the list of priorities. Basic radio conventions are thrown aside, and whilst I’m not advocating strict structure in community radio station, every broadcaster has to remember that many of those features common on commercial stations are there to make listening to the station more pleasurable.
As I’ve said elsewhere, community stations often ‘suffer’ because they are not clear about who their audience is, and therefore fail to appeal to anyone because it always sounds like they are talking to someone else. There doesn’t need to be an explicit target demographic in the way that commercial stations would operate; but an understanding of who is most likely to be listening (or even who you would most like to listen) actually focuses your production into thinking about the output.
An example could be that a community station operating in a lower socio-economic area might decide that their daytime audience is most likely to be mothers with young children and retired people – and therefore choose music and features that are most likely to interest them. And, as with all radio, there is an obvious benefit in doing some research into who your audience is and what would make them most likely to listen to your output.
Empowerment is not simply handing over the airwaves to people with no or little broadcasting experience. Although it is he who sets the Budget, the Chancellor will always seek help from a team of expert economists who will advise him on the best course of action. Stations need to ensure that there is regular access to “experts” at all levels – whether it is simple presentation and production skills, through to marketing, station sound and technical expertise. There needs to be a structural approach to how you are going to promote skills development at your station; and it must be available to every volunteer.
Empowerment is also not simply allowing a succession of ‘men with records’ who turn up and do a couple-of-hours broadcasting their favourite songs. Specialist and general music shows are an important element of the station; but even here there needs to be obvious elements of how you are empowering your listeners.
At its simplest level, this could be giving out dates of where bands whose music you are playing will be performing in the local area. So too would be interviews with local musicians to explain how they got into playing. But several short public-service announcements wrapped around a music show can be far more effective at delivering a message than a dedicated hour long programme on the subject. Think of the various OneLife campaigns on Radio 1.
Shows which are predominately music should also be used as opportunities to plug the rest of the output. Stations are greater than the sum total of their shows, and therefore whilst there can be a plethora of different shows types, they all fit under one common brand. Even with community stations, people rarely make appointments to listen and every link you broadcast could well be the first link someone tuning into the station will hear. So even if they are not interested in that particular show, they need to be convinced that this is a station they will return to, and given reasons to.
So where does the balance lie? Well I’m going to suggest that it is 60-40 in favour of your output; namely that whilst developing your station volunteers is important, unless you are also benefiting your listeners there is little point in running the station. A strong community radio station will have much more clout (and thus empowerment) if it is recognised and respected by the wider community than it is simply the 50 or so individuals who hang around the studios.